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A state of urgency?

October 21st, 2009

Dear readers, Parliament is now in urgency. That would be the fifth Parliamentary week in a row that we have gone into urgency. Perhaps its time to rename urgency as normalcy if this is the approach National is going to take.

In all seriousness, while there is a place for urgency, and (before the right begin to howl) all governments have used it, this is getting beyond a joke. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the complex the hearings on the Emissions Trading Bill are taking place from 9am to 9pm each day, with some submitters given only a few hours notice of needing to submit and then being given a very short time to state their cases. Concerns are being raised from those on all sides of the debate. It appears from media reports that National even tried to get the committee to agree to having all 184 people who wanted to submit in public put through in one day.

Lest anyone think these issues are ‘beltway’, the excessive use of urgency and the rushed select committee processes should be of concern to all New Zealanders. Apart from being anti-democratic, they open the door for bad and poorly considered law. There will necessarily be simple drafting errors but more than that Select Committees are either not getting a say or not getting enough time to properly scruitinise the Bills.

Earlier this year National put through the bill creating national standards for literacy and numeracy without a select committee process. In other words without giving parents, teachers, experts in the field the chance to have a say. Inevitably Anne Tolley has now had to delay the whole process to try to deal with issues that have come up since the Bill was passed. These could have been dealt with in a Committee. We all know about the ramming through of the Auckland governance legislation without any public process. There are numerous other examples.

As an MP I expect, and I am happy, to work hard and do some long hours. But whether I support the laws being passed by National or not, I want to know that I am part of upholding our democracy and making good law. That is being put at risk.

Posted in Consultation, Climate Change and Democracy. | 0 Comments

Letter from America V - A change in the weather

September 22nd, 2009

One of the things I love about the US is the stunning accuracy of weather forecasting. That might sound geeky, but honestly they can tell you to the minute what is coming your way. The advantages of a big continent I guess. We had ran in the midwest today, autumn has arrived.

Meanwhile in New York today the folks behind Yes Men have issued up to a million fake copies of the New York Post to highlight the importance of action on climate change at a string of meetings in US in next week or so (G20, UN) and leading up to Copenhagen. This stuff matters on the East Coast. Everywhere we went in Washington DC climate change was the order of the day (just behind healthcare and Kanye West). Obama kicked off with the Green jobs package, and there is massive work going on in terms of renewable energy research, vehicle emission standards and incentives for green building development.

In terms of the international negotiations it looks like a US position with numbers and dates and targets is unlikely before December given the need to get agreement in the Senate, and vested interests having their say. On the positive side many believe that the US would be in a position to talk about the ‘architecture’ of a post Kyoto agreement, and serious bilateral discussions had already taken place with China and India in this regard.

In Iowa there is contrast. Today we visited a huge plant that produces millions of litres of ethanol a week. Part of the American response to climate change? Well, maybe, except that the plant runs on coal, tonnes of the stuff. They are looking at alternatives but for now they go on with the coal. To be fair others are interested and some farmers noted they were happy with a voluntary market based mechanism to deal with climate change, but more traditional economic issues dominate.

Maybe in a country as big as this it is impossible to get people on the same page, but the problem with an issue like climate change of course is that it requires change and adaptation from everyone if it is going to be addressed. And they don’t get (in all respects) the New York Post in these parts.

Posted in Climate Change and Foreign Affairs. | 0 Comments

Letter from America IV- Multilateralism on the Mississippi

September 20th, 2009

Lets be honest, Muscatine is not a town I had ever heard of. Sitting on the banks of the Mississippi River in rural Iowa, it is a fairly sleepy town. Perhaps about the least likely place in the world to find a think tank dedicated to preaching the virtues of multilateralism to Americans. As one of our party remarked yesterday it is probably a great place to have a think tank, as there is not much else to do but think!

The Stanley Foundation is the legacy of C.Maxwell Stanley. Mr Stanley was a Muscatine native, a moderate Republican and a successful enginner who having spent time abroad, in Africa particularly, decided to devote some resources to supporting the notion that multilateralism is the way forward for US Foreign Policy. His son Richard is the Chair of the Foundation, and is still very much engaged, attending the roundtable held for our group yesterday.

The foundation’s task is not an easy one. Multilateralism is not the American way. The rugged individualism that characterises the stereotyped American psyche also pervades foreign policy. Why should American bow or compromise to anyone, let along the collective will of nations much its smaller? Certainly the Bush administration grabbed this notion and ran with it, neatly lining it up with its overarching doctrine of governing by Fear, with a capital F.

Yet here, and in other parts of the foreign policy community there is cautious optimisim that the Obama administration is embracing multilateralism, albeit cautiously. Multilateralism is of course the international embodiment of the the message of Hope that Obama so skillfully developed in the campaign. If we work together we can overcome all obstacles.

Obama’s positioning is now being regularly described as one of engagement. He is working hard, often quietly behind the scenes at developing the relationships he needs to solve problems that are beyond any individual country. As ever with Obama tone and symbol are important. He reversed Bush’s decision about a missile defence system in Europe just as the G20 is about to begin. We have heard he will deliver substantive and newsworthy messages in his UN General Assembly speech, including around climate change. The evolving administration position on climate change (on which I plan to blog more fully) is based around a recognition that progress is only possible in lock step with China, India and others.

There are of course concerns. Obama is still a politician playing in the toughest political league in the world. Domestic policy agendas and conerns about poll ratings mean he is moving slowly. If anyone (Iran, Russia etc) look like they will try to exploit the approach of engagement and compromise then pressure will come to bear to show some more teeth.

But in Muscatine there is optimism, and yes, hope, and that is not something they have felt for a long time.

Posted in Disarmament, Climate Change and Foreign Affairs. | 0 Comments